WASHINGTON, DC — The United States on Monday
imposed sanctions on an Eritrean official it accused of being engaged in
serious human rights abuse in the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, as
Washington warned it would continue to target those involved in prolonging the
conflict.
اضافة اعلان
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it
blacklisted Filipos Woldeyohannes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense
Forces (EDF). The Treasury said he commands EDF forces that have been operating
in Tigray.
The Treasury accused the forces of being responsible for
massacres, sexual assaults and purposely shooting civilians in the streets,
among other human rights abuses.
"The United States will continue to identify and pursue
action against those involved in serious human rights abuse in Ethiopia and
prolonging the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis," US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement.
The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said
it rejected Washington's action on Monday, adding that the accusations are
"utterly baseless."
"Eritrea calls on the US Administration to bring the
case to an independent adjudication if it indeed has facts to prove its false
allegations," the statement said.
The United States has repeatedly called for Eritrean troops
to withdraw from Tigray. Eritrea sent
troops to Tigray after Ethiopian federal
forces launched an offensive in November in response to attacks on federal
government bases by forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front
(TPLF).
Eritrea denied for months that its troops were in the
region, but later acknowledged their presence while denying they were
responsible for abuses.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea said in
June the country now has "effective control" of parts of Tigray,
calling for troops to withdraw and for a prompt investigation into abuses,
including the abduction of refugees.
"Today’s action demonstrates the United States’
commitment to imposing costs on those responsible for these despicable acts,
which worsen a conflict that has led to tremendous suffering by
Ethiopians," Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control, said in the statement.
"We urge Eritrea to immediately and permanently
withdraw its forces from Ethiopia, and urge the parties to the conflict to
begin ceasefire negotiations and end human rights abuses," Gacki added.
President Joe Biden's administration is far advanced in its
assessment of whether to call events crimes against humanity, genocide or war
crimes, Robert Godec, acting assistant secretary of state for the State
Department's Bureau of African Affairs, said in June.
Doctors said hundreds of women reported they were subjected
to horrific sexual violence by Ethiopian and allied Eritrean soldiers after
fighting broke out in the mountainous northern region of Ethiopia, Reuters
reported in April.
The UN children's agency, UNICEF, said last
month that more than 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer
life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months, as hundreds of thousands
in the region face famine conditions.
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